Hitman: Successions
by Tom Jenkins
Summary: Note: Quite long. No sequel planned I have no name. I am a number, Agent 64. Since abandoning my father's home, Agent 47, an elite assassin, I have followed in his footsteps. He died only two years ago, and I have continued his legacy.Please review.


_**Hitman:**_** Successions**

**27th November. 02:47 pm. 2008 **

with all the haste I could muster, I ran. Before me was a flight of vertical stairs leading up to my exit, where I would finally liberate myself from my mental torment that had begun only today. Blinking lights illuminated my path enough so that I could continue my escape. The doors were drawing closer, their cold steel within my reach. Practically falling through them, the incredibly fierce light reflecting off the infinite snow of the mountain range before me brought pain to my eyes. A pain that was interrupted by a small noise coming from the distance. It was a high ringing noise that didn't seem to end, and for the few seconds that it lasted, my life felt the same. As I realised what was happening, the truth of my existence fully hit me, and for the first time since the beginning, I swore that I felt truly human.

**27th November. 08:21 am. 2008**

With a sigh, I took out my small computer from within my suits inside pocket. As I looked down at the tailoring of my black tuxedo I remembered the hours of work I had spent that morning ironing it, making sure there was not a single bloody stain on the white shirt underneath, perfecting the collar and red tie. Every morning the same, but it wasn't like I had anything better to do. In my line of work, I couldn't take up hobbies, or anything that would ever give away my location. But that was no problem, because I never even had any interest in such things.  
"Good morning Agent 64, I have a new mission for you if you are interested." said a familiar voice as I activated the screen. I had never learnt her name, but she paid well, and had contacts, so that was the least of my worries.  
"Of course," I answered sternly. In the reflection I could see my own face, pale, with bright blue eyes. They say that I inherited my father's looks, though I never knew him. All I had were photos, very few photos. He had been an efficient and silent assassin, a man I could look up to. "Send me the details."  
No reply meant that she was preparing the data to be sent. I took the time to look out of the window at my side. Beneath me was the open sea, lush and gleaming as the sun rose on the horizon. The only sounds were the blades of the helicopter I sat in slicing through the fresh, pure air. The emptiness was the sign that in this one place, I was alone, and I was safe.  
"Done," came the voice from the speaker. Turning back to the screen, I felt shocked for the first time I could remember. The figures being offered for this contract were inspiring, far beyond what I was accustomed to. "Do you accept?"  
I read each line carefully. It seemed simple enough. In Southwest China, located in the Meili Mountain in West Yunnan, my target was currently housed. His name was Dr. Gene, obviously not his real name, but that was his alias. There were also no photos provided as I searched the files, and that always made a mission a little bit more difficult than it could be. At least the location was detailed enough; a mansion near the summit, with three floors, and two more that ran underground. Thanks to the blueprints, access would be easy, finding my target wouldn't prove to be such a simple task.  
"Of course," I said once again. I hadn't rejected a contract yet, and wasn't going to start now. Plus, the amount offered was more than I had ever seen. "Transfer it all to my account."  
"Very well, good luck Agent 64."   
Deactivating the auto-pilot, I took hold of the controls and began to head towards China. It wasn't exactly close by, but it was reachable, and judging by the info given, I would be able to land only a short distance away.

**27th November. 12:36 pm. 2008 **

In the time it had taken me to reach Chinese air space, the temperature had dropped significantly. It shocked me greatly the effectiveness of the anti-radar defences integrated into my helicopter as I drew closer and closer to the mountains. The mansion was already in sight, but I wouldn't be able to land too nearby. Taking careful control over the vehicle, I allowed it to touch down on the closest flat space, more or less a quarter of a mile away, and shut off the engines. Moving to the back of the vehicle I took a small remote out of the same pocket as before and punched in the combination I had chosen. Any wrong decisions would immediately detonate a small bomb in the helicopter, destroying it completely, but I had used it so many times the chances of mistakes were practically nil. Once I had finished, a small sheet of metal at the back slid aside, revealing my arsenal department, my weapons. Taking a look at each of them, I thought carefully about what I would need, and finally chose. A piano wire, a block of C4 and the detonator, a small syringe of poison and another of sedatives, my personalised handgun, and an armoured suitcase with my modified sniper rifle sitting silently inside. Fully equipped, I climbed out of the vehicle and soon felt the freezing wind brush past me. Though the sensation was there, I sighed and shrugged as I began to trudge through the crisp snow. Cold had never really affected me, and neither had the heat. At times I wondered why, but I never had enough to fully speculate. Contracts came in high numbers, and left not a moment for self reflection.

**27th November. 01:03 pm. 2008**

After a short while of trekking through the mountains, I finally reached the mansion. When it came into view I was quite a distance above it, leaving me with the perfect opportunity to observe the area. It was heavily guarded, with security scanning every inch of the building and cameras leaving nowhere unwatched. I had faced worse.  
Minutes later I arrived outside the metal fence that surrounded it. Assuming it was electrified, I followed it's perimeter until a nearby guard spotted me.  
"What are you doing here?" asked the suited man fiercely, already pointing his M16 at my head as he came over.  
"I'm sorry, I'm afraid I must be lost," I shrugged as I replied. "Could you give me directions to the nearest bathroom?"  
By now he was standing at the bars, menacing me with his weapon and stern look, but I didn't give him time to think. As he stood there, I reached through the fence and pulled him towards the bars, frying him instantly, and seconds later, his life had been taken. Holding him against the bars with one hand I reached into his pockets with the other and found exactly what I had been hoping for, an access card.  
Luckily, I was similarly dressed to them, and as I slipped the card through the mechanism at the entrance no one paid any attention. Strolling in casually, I headed for the grand doors that granted access to the mansion. I was now inside. Looking around, I suddenly saw what I had lest hoped for; in the corner of the grand entrance hall was a camera recording my face. That would have to be taken care of before anything else. On either side of the hall was a door, polished white like almost everything that wasn't decoration in this place. At the end were stairs leading upwards, and so, I headed for them first. If my memory of the blueprints were correct, then by following the next hall to the right and crossing through the kitchens I would find a lift that would take me down to the security centre. Walking along I brushed past a guard until I reached the door leading to the kitchens.  
"Damn." I murmured under my breath as I attempted to turn the knob. It was locked, and there was a guard patrolling the halls, so I wouldn't be able to pick it without being seen. Turning back around, I saw the guard looking me directly in the eye, he had seen me already.   
"Aren't you supposed to be watching somewhere?" he asked suspiciously.  
"I have urgent business in the security centre," I answered hopefully. "I needed to get through the kitchens."   
"That door's always locked!" he retorted, obviously growing ever more curious as to my real purpose as he reached for his gun. I couldn't give him the chance. Before he even reached the trigger, I reached inside my own pocket and drew my gun. The moment the laser lined up with his skull, the bullet left it the barrel, killing him instantly, and causing security to jump up from their seats as the turning camera stopped in my direction. With another shot from my weapon the camera erupted into a spray of sparks and mechanisms, but there was no time to waste. As fast as I could I ran over and changed my clothes with his. The differences between our outfits were clear when searching for a killer, and the added glasses would help to cover my identity even but a bit. From his ear I took a small communicator. This would help.  
"Head for the main hall, east side!" I heard as soon as I connected it.  
"I'm heading through the kitchens now. Damn! The door's locked!" Came the reply from another. I sneered slightly, the lock that had impeded my path had permitted my escape, but being spotted in the first place had been a defect, and I would still need to reach security to erase the memory of my face from the files of history. Sprinting towards the other door on the west side, I opened it with ease and entered casually. I seemed I had entered some sort of conference room. A long table with numerous seats sat in the centre, and at a window on the other side was another guard, smoking as he looked outside. I would have pushed him out and over the balcony, but the window pane open was too high to look like an accident, and so I reached inside my suit. Moments later I took out the piano wire and as silently as possible I crept up behind him. With agility that surprised even me, I placed it around his neck and pulled tightly, the thin cable cutting into his neck and causing his sight to slowly fade. I had checked upon entry, there were no surveillance cameras in the room, and there weren't allowed to be any witnesses now that my presence had been alerted to the rest of the building. Why he was standing at the window and not searching was a mystery, but a circumstance of incredible luck.  
"I'm in the east hall. His clothes have been taken!" came the same voice as before through the communicator. "There's someone disguised among us, alert the building!"   
"Doing it now," was the reply. "Changing frequencies."   
For a moment I stood in wait as the connection was cut off, before seconds after sound returned.  
"Attention, all security, we have an intruder within the perimeter last seen in the main hall, east wing. Abandon your posts and search the area. This intruder is still loose and must be caught-"  
Out of anger towards the guards, or myself for allowing such a thing to happen, I threw the earpiece to the ground and stamped on it. By now, there would be a description of me practically photographic in the minds of everyone within the area. Dr. Gene would also be aware, and so recalling the blueprints of the entire building after looking at my computer once again, I left the room and headed for the central lift that would take me to the security centre. For not thinking of that in the first place I would have teach myself not to act so stupidly. At that thought, my fingers stung slightly. My ways of correcting bad decisions were often painful, but effective.

**27th November. 02:31 pm. 2008 **

A body thudded to the ground behind me with a gaping hole in his head as I approached the lift and slid the card just obtained through the access mechanism. I had made sure to shoot out every camera upon entrance into a room before it could see me, but each guard searching for me had recognised me in an instant, and had met their death just as quickly less than a second later. As I stepped into the lift, the door closed and I saw clearly marked on the buttons each area. First, second, third floor, or, security centre or research facility. I had two choices: I could head down to the research facility and search for Dr. Gene, or head for the security centre and make sure that I was no longer recorded. The choice seemed obvious. I had already been seen and my presence had made known, so records came after my target. As I pressed the button that would take me to the research facility, I heard a heavy thud above me. As I reached for my gun, a panel from the top of the lift was removed, and in dropped a suited man, with a face identical to my own. In his hand was a basic handgun, loaded and now pointing at my head.  
"Come silently to father!" he ordered without emotion. In the time it would take me to put the gun to his own head, he could pull the trigger, and the shock from seeing the exact image of myself had left me stunned for a moment. With a nod I agreed, and allowed him to lead my out of the lift without resistance as we reached the research floor and I placed my gun back inside my suit. It was far more modern than the rest of the area, spotlessly clean and gleaming brightly. As I was taken along by the mirror image of myself I saw inside numerous rooms with bloody tables inside. On these tables were dissected bodies, each with faces as pale and as dead as all of my targets up until now. My stomach churned upon seeing some, as the same face as my own returned the stare without blinking, lifeless.  
"Who's father?" I asked curiously as we walked. I didn't expect to be answered, but there were too many questions floating in my head, and I needed answers.   
"Dr. Thomas Gene, our creator. He is in the next room," he answered as we reached a set of glass doors. The next room was circular with dozens of tables everywhere, each one with an open body lying on its surface, equal to his own. Silently, the automatic doors opened and I stepped inside, the cold barely still pressed against my head.  
"Father, I have brought the intruder," my capturer said to the scientist who stood facing a table, his back against me. "Should I leave?"  
"No, Agent 49, keep that gun there against him, I can't have him making any rash movements. I'll be with you in a second."  
A spurt of blood sprayed across the scientist's long white coat before he turned around. He was aged, more or less sixty, with grey balding hair. Fragments from the body now behind him were falling from his protective clothing as he made this way across the room towards me.  
"Welcome back Agent 64," he said coldly with a small smile on his wrinkled face. "I'm sure you're wondering what on Earth is happening here."  
"You could say that," In replied. There were too many questions running through my head at that moment, and that was all I could find to say, until then I blurted out. "Who the are you?"  
"Dr. Thomas Gene. Or Thomas Jack if you want my real name. I already know you, Agent 64. You were here only seventeen months and thirty days ago. I've been through this many times, so why don't you let me do the explaining?"  
I shut up. If I could save breath by listening then I would. Plus, by not asking, things I had not previously known could be revealed.  
"Go ahead," I said politely. "I won't stop you."  
"You know Agent 47 of course. Your father figure. He was a clone himself, an assassin. Only two years ago, he died. His body was taken, and was placed on auction. Do you know why?"  
"No." I answered simply. My fist was clenched. He was acting as if this was all as simple as a game. I had never been given a name, true, and the Agent 47 I had seen in the papers had been my father. That much I knew.  
"His DNA contained certain information necessary for my research, and the research of many others. The data it contained was an instruction manual for human cloning, left behind by his own creator. He was the only one that knew how, and when 47 died, I knew that I could achieve the same with his DNA, and so, I used all of my power to retrieve that body. He is in this room," he explained as he pointed over to a large cyro-storage capsule. "And by using his genetic coding I have succeeded in cloning human beings. Each one as powerful and intelligent as 47 himself. You are one of my sons."  
I frowned at the scientist for a moment. What was he saying? I was a clone? My father, 47 had been a clone, yes, but as far as I knew, I had been born naturally, I even remembered my mother.  
"Know you are questioning your memories," Thomas interrupted. "Trust me, I know. All of you think in the same way," he said, tapping his own head. "Exactly the same as 47 would have done if he were alive. In truth, you are 47. The man next to you is 47, but there is a reason you are here now. A reason that I called you here."  
"I'm on a contract, you didn't call me here!" I shouted across the room angrily. Nothing made sense.  
"Oh really," Thomas smiled. "Then explain this." He continued as he produced a remote from his pocket and pressed a small button. As I stood there, the same female voice from my computer rang through my ears. The entire message I had received this morning was being played back to me. Silently, I listened to the old man's explanation. "It's sinking in now, isn't it? Now, back to your memories. Every one of you clones has one defect that 47 never had himself. You are all type 2 clones." I had heard of type 2 clones. Clones each had a rank. Type 1 being a regular human being. Type 2 clones had been fast forwarded to adult age, and only lived for exactly eighteen months. "As you know, these clones only last for a year and a half. The exact time is unknown, but sometime today or tomorrow your life will be terminated. I allowed you to escape as a test subject, to see if your capabilities were really equal to those of 47. I set each contract for you, and of course, although just tests, you got rid of quite a few thorns in my plans. Thank you."  
"Thank you?" I suddenly roared. "You created me as a weapon? Explain the memories. What are they? Are they also unreal?"  
"Of course they are. On the day of your awakening they were implemented into your brain. Your true life was activated when you were placed outside fully dressed, equipped with weapons and everything would ever need. It was then I gave you your first contract, and you, believing that you had run away from home at a young age, took it, also believing that you had been killing for years."  
"How do you know my past?" I mumbled. I didn't want to believe him, but everything made sense. Whether it was anger or reaction I didn't know, but I suddenly ducked down and reached inside my suit. As I did so, I heard a shot fire above me and ricochet off a nearby table. Before he could fire again, I rammed my gun into Agent 49's gut and fired before taking it up to his head and firing again. As I did so, a small knife flew past my head, scraping by shaved head and causing a drop of blood to fall.  
It was then that I aimed at Thomas's head. There were no final words as the bullet left the chamber and pierced the scientist's skull, dropping him to the floor instantly. For a moment I said nothing, but then I realised what I had to do.  
I had to escape!  
Keeping my gun firmly held in my hand, I began to reload as I ran towards the lift. Luckily, no one had called it, and it was still waiting for me there. Stepping inside I looked once again at the buttons available to me. Everywhere would likely be swarming with guards by now, and I wasn't exactly being stealthy anymore. As I thought, I heard another noise, lighter than the fall of a human body, somewhere near me. Down at my side I saw it, a small block of plastic dropped into the lift at my side. Frantically I ran, behind me, the lift was engulfed in an explosion of awesome flame, cutting off my escape. There was only one choice; I would have to find a way out from the research facility.

**27th November. 02:46 pm. 2008**

It hadn't taken me as long as I had imagined. Less than a minute later I found an emergency exit, not seen on the blueprints, and took it. Racing through the long grey tunnel I reached a set of stairs and continued as fast as I could. Far away, where the final doors that would liberate me from the mansion. Spurring the balance of silence horribly, a guard suddenly broke through the doors from outside, and armed with a sub-machine gun, began to fire wildly. Just as I raised my own weapon, a stray bullet struck me in the left shoulder, and it would have been more if I had not fired at that moment and taken him down. Stepping over the tumbling body I continued to run, the doors growing closer with each hastened step, until finally, I burst outside into the cold emptiness of the mountain range. The mansion no longer in sight, I stopped to breath, only to hear a small noise in the back of my head, ever growing louder. As it did so, my sight began to fade away with it. My limbs began to feel loose and heavy, and unable to control them I fell to my knees. In those few moments, I believed my creator. He had been right. I was a clone, and that day or the next, I was doomed to die. Looking upwards at the sky, and then downwards, the last thing I saw was the pure, divine whiteness of the snow, being stained with my own blood as it seeped from my shoulder. The fall seemed like an eternity, but the moment I hit that freezing ground, there was nothing.

**Unknown. 2011**

"- you can see, this serves as a perfect basis for-" 

"-every problem we have ever faced has been resolved because of-"

"-the research has been passed on, and-" 

"-a successful project. Good job-"

There were voices. I remembered voices. I didn't know for how long, but they were there. Changing with each recollection. My recollection in fact, was vague, for the moment the voices came into existence they were no longer there. But there was music now, soothing music that played gently into my ears. I didn't know how, but somewhere, I was still alive.


End file.
